American Olympians Credit Their Faith After “Potentially Deadly” Health Scare

The winter Olympics have already been a story of hope, perseverance, and making history.

It started with Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris overcoming a near-death experience to win a bronze medal just 11 months later. Then Mira Nagasu made American Olympic history when she became the first woman to land a triple axel at the Olympic games. And who can forget Redmond Gerard, the 17-year-old snowboarder who won a gold medal despite sleeping through his alarm.

International Figure Skating

But a story that is not being talked about is that of Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim, the married figure skating duo who are crediting their faith for being in PyeongChang today. The pair have been skating together since 2012, and in April of 2014 they were engaged. It was a love story that could only be written about in fairy tales. Two figure skaters who started out as partners and ended up as lovers.

But not even two short years ago, Alexa was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal issue that was “potentially deadly,” and the fairy tale romance almost took a turn for the worse. Though it hasn’t been discussed what the exact issue was, Alexa has opened up about how her faith is what saved her.